Three-dimensional (stereoscopic) imaging dates from very near the invention of photography. N. Niepce, L. J. M. Daguerre, and Henry Fox Talbot invented two very different photographic processes between 1826 and 1837. In 1839 Daguerre, Hippolyte Bayard, and Talbot published details on these two photographic methods. Niepce and Daguerre disclosed a process using photosensitized metal, while Bayard and Talbot disclosed two slightly different processes using photosensitized paper. The process of Niepce and Daguerre, named daguerreotype, was an immediate success, while the paper processes of Bayard and Talbot did not gain prominence until the perfection of bromide papers in the 1880's. While the principles of stereoscopy were known from the early 1800's, the theories remained unproven until 1838 when Sir Charles Wheatstone published, “Contributions to the Physiology of Vision—on Some Remarkable, and Hitherto Unobserved, Phenomena of Binocular Vision” as a paper presented to the British Royal Society. Wheatstone demonstrated that the mind perceives an object in three dimensions because each eye records a slightly different view. In 1839, a Mr. Collen and Talbot created stereoscopic images using Talbot's processes for Wheatstone, and stereoscopic imaging was born.
Throughout the history of photography one of the major difficulties of stereoscopic imaging, has been the requirement of special equipment and techniques to capture and view stereoscopic images. This need for special equipment and techniques contribute to the fact that stereoscopic imaging is so uncommon today. In 1851 Sir William Brewster invented the lenticular stereoscope, the first stereoscopic viewer usable by the average person. Eight years later, in 1859, Oliver Wendell Holmes, along with Joseph L. Bates, constructed the first version of the now famous hand-held stereoscope, commonly referred to as the Holmes stereoscope. Holmes and Bates neglected to patent their invention, and within several years, the Holmes stereoscope was in production by a number of different opticians throughout the United States.
The first stereoscopic images were produced using a single camera that was shifted between exposures. This method is only usable in capturing static images. When movement occurs in the time between the two exposures, the left and right images will capture the moving object at slightly different locations and retinal rivalry will occur. Because of this limitation, a camera capable of capturing simultaneous left and right images is required in most situations. The use of two images to capture three-dimensional information of an object is well known. However, there is a need in the art for an apparatus and method for capturing three-dimensional information from a single image, since such an image capture device would require only a single lens and shutter, thus lowering the cost of such a camera.
Three-dimensional data is also required in the construction of models for use in computer-aided-design (CAD) and computer-aided-manufacturing (CAM) systems. Currently, the generation of three-dimensional data from an existing object is a time-consuming chore. Specialized hardware exists to capture such three-dimensional data, but may be large and expensive. There is a need in the art for a simple, inexpensive image capture device capable of capturing three-dimensional data.